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11th February 2016

Singapore Economy

Top business leaders join panel to review Elected Presidency

The chiefs of some of Singapore's largest employers are among the nine members of the new Constitutional Commission set up to review certain aspects of the Elected Presidency system. DBS Bank chairman Peter Seah, Far East Organization chief executive Philip Ng and Ho Bee Land chairman and CEO Chua Thian Poh are all part of the group.

Singapore has room to improve when it comes to its relatively elevated rates of software piracy. But the country's intellectual property (IP) environment still scores well overall due to factors such as having an advanced IP framework and a patent enforcement legal framework that is "adequate and generally applied", according to an index ranking by the United States Chamber of Commerce that was released on Wednesday.

Young Asian chief executives are reporting a resurgence of confidence, a surprising find given the current slowdown in China and the decline in stock and oil prices globally. Economic sentiment in Asia rose 2.4 points from 57.3 in Q3 2015 to 59.7 in Q4 2015, after having dropped 10 points in the previous five quarters, according to the latest YPO Global Pulse Confidence Index.

Two reports published last month could help policymakers, entrepreneurs and investors decide on the factors to develop a start-up ecosystem or help digital entrants expand their operations, while other research points to ways in which companies can join forces with new-tech outfits to improve innovation.

The Republic came in sixth out of 38 countries in the US Chamber International Intellectual Property (IP) Index, the US Chamber of Commerce said on Wednesday (Feb 10). According to the Chamber, the index is a empirical assessment of the state of national IP environments in the world, and the study is based on 30 measurable criteria relating to innovation building, patent, copyright and trademark protections, enforcement and engagement in international treaties, among others.

The Asia-Pacific is expected to see US$8.5 billion in hotel investments this year, while markets such as Singapore and Hong Kong will be less active owing to the shortage of available assets. The figure marks a decrease from the US$9.2 billion in transactions racked up last year in the region, as over 33,000 hotels rooms changed hands, according to a report by JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group.